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With a distinctive sound that successfully combined the band’s southern roots with sophisticated vocal harmonies, soft psych, bossa nova, and even gospel, Eternity’s Children managed to create their own exciting hybrid sound, and in doing so, became one of the most extraordinary and unusual pop bands ever to emerge from the Deep South. Comprised of lead vocalist and songwriter Linda Lawley, bassist and co-lead vocalist Charlie Ross, drummer Roy Whittaker, guitarist Johnny Walker, and keyboardists Bruce Blackman (who would later found yacht rock favorites Starbuck with whom he composed their classic “Moonlight Feels Right”) and Mike “Kid” McClain, Eternity’s Children achieved impressive chart successes in several major markets, toured alongside legends such as the Temptations, the Doors, and Spirit, only to find their own great potential eclipsed by bad management and label woes.
“Possessed of two exceptional lead vocalists and a self-penned hit single, immensely talented, college-educated, and great-looking to boot, they toured with some of the biggest names in music, and worked with the finest producers and musicians,” writes Steve Stanley. “They transformed the songs they covered – many composed by the industry’s top songwriters – and made them their own. Eternity’s Children clearly had all the ingredients necessary to conquer the pop world, yet their career path was littered with more pitfalls and landmines than most artists could ever fear to endure. Why did this band, whose talent far surpassed that of many of their more renowned contemporaries, fail to achieve the measure of acclaim and financial success they deserved?”
Eternity’s Children first came to life in 1966 when Blackman and Whittaker joined Ross in Cleveland, Mississippi’s top local group, the Phantoms. As it became apparent that a wholly different group with an entirely “now” sound was emerging, the band adopted their new cosmic moniker. The newly-dubbed Eternity’s Children began working the New Orleans club circuit, wowing audiences in and around the Gulf region with their impressive live show. Dark-haired folk singer and songwriter Linda Lawley soon joined the lineup, resulting in the development of complex vocal harmonies which came to define the band’s sound.
That inventive approach caught the attention of Keith Olsen, a former member of psych rock pioneers The Music Machine and later to become a Multi-Platinum certified producer known for his work with Fleetwood Mac, the Grateful Dead, Ozzy Osbourne, Rick Springfield, and countless others. Olsen brought Eternity’s Children into a Dallas, TX studio where they recorded a pair of tracks that swiftly led to their signing with A&M Records. The band relocated to Los Angeles during the summer of 1967 where they began performing alongside such legends as the Seeds, Country Joe and the Fish, and Three Dog Night, as well as making a heretofore-undocumented cameo in the film The Graduate.
But when their A&M single failed to chart nationally, Eternity’s Children were forced to return to Louisiana, prompting Blackman’s departure from the group. They enlisted a talented new keyboardist, Mike “The Kid” McClain, and found themselves signed to Tower Records, a new Capitol Records sublabel with an intriguing roster of artists that included Pink Floyd, the Standells, the Chocolate Watch Band, Davie Allan and the Arrows, Harry Nilsson, and more.
Eternity’s Children returned to the studio to record what became their self-titled debut album, joined once again by Keith Olsen as well as his associate and co-producer, Curt Boettcher, a groundbreaking talent known for producing “Along Comes Mary” and “Cherish” for the Association as well as his own career-defining work with his sunshine pop supergroup, the Millennium. Released in 1968, Eternity’s Children was highlighted by the hit single, “Mrs. Bluebird,” a gorgeous slice of sunshine pop with a cascading, hypnotic flow that proved the band’s highest-charting success, reaching #69 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #54 on the Cash Box Top 100.
Just one month after the release of Eternity’s Children, the group headed up to Bakersfield, CA, where they began tracking what would become their second and final LP, Timeless, this time recording with producer Gary Paxton, best known for the #1 hits, “Alley Oop” by the Hollywood Argyles and Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers’ classic “Monster Mash.” Decidedly more soulful than their debut – without losing the band’s trademark sweet, stacked-harmony sound – the LP sees Eternity’s Children joined by bluegrass and country rock icon Clarence White (The Byrds, The Kentucky Colonels), who participated not only as a guitarist, but also as a writer, co-authoring the album standout, “Nature’s Child” with Paxton’s wife Jan. Unfortunately, Timeless was pulled from Tower’s U.S. release schedule for unknown reasons and issued only in an extremely limited pressing in November 1968 on Capitol Canada’s 6000 series. Today, on the rare occasion when copies trade hands, it’s not uncommon for Timeless to fetch in the upper three figures. Indeed, the LP is so scarce, the band themselves thought the recordings remained unreleased until a twofer reissue of Eternity’s Children and Timeless was issued on CD in 1999. To this day, none of the members of Eternity’s Children have ever seen an original copy of Timeless.
Eternity’s Children released their final 45 on Liberty Records in the spring of 1970, but as bad luck would have it, the label was in decline and folded shortly thereafter. The band soon went their separate ways, though each member would continue to forge their own musical paths throughout the decades that followed. Now, with High Moon’s belated – but undeniably deserved – vinyl reissue of Eternity’s Children and Timeless, the legacy of Eternity’s Children can be appreciated and honored as it has long deserved.
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